Part 1:Write a short commentary on either primary source extract A or Primary Source extract B.
Extract Chosen= A
This is a letter detailing the correspondence between the British foreign secretary Sir Edward Grey to the British Ambassador to Austria, Sir M. de Bunsen following a conversation he had on the morning of 23rd July 1914 (Great Britain Foreign Office, 1915). The letter was written when the July Crisis was at its peak and was written five days before the declaration of war from Austria-Hungary to Serbia. The letter is significant as it is written the same day an ultimatum was issued to Serbia by Austria which outlined demands such as taking responsibility for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28th June. This as a historical source is useful to a historian in understanding the British reaction to the July Crisis, its reluctance to war, Britain’s uncertainty of its survival in a European war and it also alludes to the …show more content…
This essay talks of the importance Russia played in the outbreak of war and how France relied on their involvement if war was declared between France and Germany. With Russia’s involvement in the Austria-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia, war was more or less certain and due to the alliance France was ‘…dragged into an unwanted war’ (Hamilton & Herwig, 2005, p.129). Even though this essay talks of the role Russia had in France’s involvement in war, the essay isn’t necessillary useful to a historian in using it in the debate about the causes of the First World War. The essay is rather a strong text to be used in the debate regarding French decision making and policy making in the lead up to the First World War. It could also be used to show how the general French opinion was against war and how propaganda has obscured the appetite for war had ceased to exist in claiming back former French
Extract Chosen= A
This is a letter detailing the correspondence between the British foreign secretary Sir Edward Grey to the British Ambassador to Austria, Sir M. de Bunsen following a conversation he had on the morning of 23rd July 1914 (Great Britain Foreign Office, 1915). The letter was written when the July Crisis was at its peak and was written five days before the declaration of war from Austria-Hungary to Serbia. The letter is significant as it is written the same day an ultimatum was issued to Serbia by Austria which outlined demands such as taking responsibility for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28th June. This as a historical source is useful to a historian in understanding the British reaction to the July Crisis, its reluctance to war, Britain’s uncertainty of its survival in a European war and it also alludes to the …show more content…
This essay talks of the importance Russia played in the outbreak of war and how France relied on their involvement if war was declared between France and Germany. With Russia’s involvement in the Austria-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia, war was more or less certain and due to the alliance France was ‘…dragged into an unwanted war’ (Hamilton & Herwig, 2005, p.129). Even though this essay talks of the role Russia had in France’s involvement in war, the essay isn’t necessillary useful to a historian in using it in the debate about the causes of the First World War. The essay is rather a strong text to be used in the debate regarding French decision making and policy making in the lead up to the First World War. It could also be used to show how the general French opinion was against war and how propaganda has obscured the appetite for war had ceased to exist in claiming back former French